General Asylum: No prejudices against the Acurus, at all. by TAFKA Steve

At the time that the Acurus showed up in the used ads, I had never read nor heard a review of the amp (I only joined the internet in the last year), and it was a forty mile drive down to Orange County, CA on a late Friday afternoon (traffic on the Santa Ana Fwy, ugh!), so I was intending to make my trip worthwhile. I really wanted to like that amp (the power and the price were right), but the sound I heard was not just Adcom bright/brittle, it was 1973 Japanese SS receiver bright/brittle. I think that even Julian Hirsch and Hans Fantel (and maybe even Norm Strong and mtry) would have heard the problem. After an hour of listening with all the CDs I brought I had given up.

As for poor high frequency hearing, I stand exposed, as I can only hear continuous tones up to 14 kHz. The problem I was hearing sounded like it was in the 4-8 kHz region. I am generally fairly tolerant in this region, having lived with SS Krells powering Thiels for the last seven years when most of the AA members post that such a combo should make my ears bleed.

I did not intend to start a flame war, just offer my honest observation of the sound of the amp in one system. Obviously, you are reporting exactly what you hear and I am glad that you were much more satisfied with your experience than myself or the guy in Orange County trying to get rid of his.